Recommendations to support workers in child care and education

Worried about sending children back to the countryside and asking someone to look after them

Ms. Phung Diem Tuyen, President of the Trade Union of Daehan Motors Company (Automotive Mechanical Industrial Park, Cu Chi District) said that many employees find it difficult to send their preschool-age children to public preschools, so they have to send them back to their hometowns for their grandparents to take care of or send them outside.

Ms. Tuyen herself, because she could not send her child to a preschool, had to leave her 4-year-old child with a neighbor who often let her child watch a cell phone to keep him still... "When I went to the doctor, he said that because my child lacked contact with children of the same age, did not receive proper education, and was exposed to a lot of cell phones, it affected the child's language development," Ms. Tuyen said sadly.

Ms. Tran Ngoc Phuong, Chairman of the Vietnam Paiho Company Union (Tan Tao Industrial Park) said that most of the workers are from other provinces, many of whom have to send their children back to their hometowns, so the children lack parental affection. Some parents still have the mindset of leaving the responsibility of taking care of their children to their grandparents and the children's education to the school, without checking their children's academic results, leading to many undesirable situations.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, Chairman of the Trade Union of Dai Dung Mechanical - Trading Joint Stock Company, said that there was a time when many workers moved to big cities and provinces to find jobs, and had to leave their children with their grandparents. Many grandparents spoiled their grandchildren and did not have proper educational measures, which led to their children being spoiled and even involved in social evils.

Need for special education policy

Ms. Le Thi Le Huyen - Vice President of the Trade Union of Export Processing Zones and Industrial Parks in Ho Chi Minh City - said that public kindergartens only meet about 15% of the childcare needs of workers' children, the remaining 85% must rely on private kindergartens; tuition fees at private kindergartens with guaranteed quality are 5-9 times higher than at public schools.

Workers in industrial parks and export processing zones often have to work until 7 p.m. and work shifts on weekends, but public kindergartens only take care of children until 5:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday and do not take care of children on weekends or during summer vacations.

Ms. Huyen proposed to review the planning for the development of export processing zones and industrial parks, add essential construction items to improve the lives of workers, and plan to build nurseries and kindergartens in export processing zones and industrial parks. There should be policies on education for the specific characteristics of export processing zones and industrial parks; develop regulations on allocating time frames for childcare in accordance with the childcare needs of workers in export processing zones and industrial parks, and pilot the organization of preschool activities to serve the children of workers working in export processing zones and industrial parks in accordance with actual conditions...

Ms. Ngo Thi Thuy - Deputy Head of the Women's Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Labor Federation - said that the Ho Chi Minh City Labor Federation at all levels has organized many activities to support workers to take care of and educate their children, while mobilizing social resources to take care of children of union members and workers through the models "Nguyen Duc Canh Scholarship", "Thanh Da Summer Camp", "Breastfeeding Room", "Warm Kitchen", "Bicycles to School with Children"... The Union also negotiated, dialogued, and included in the collective labor agreement many provisions that are beneficial to female workers and their children.